The Open Thread is a monthly bridge between series, and a space for experimentation. We’re trying something new this month — a recorded conversation, on video, from an evening at Faena Rose on Miami Beach.
Tristan Harris is the clearest voice we have on what’s at stake in the AI moment. More than a decade ago, he sounded the alarm on social media — long before The Social Dilemma made his warnings mainstream. He thinks we’re repeating the mistake now, at a scale that dwarfs what social media wrought.
We cover a lot of ground: the incentives driving the AI race, the prisoner’s dilemma that keeps it from slowing, the difference between what’s possible and what’s probable, and two primary concerns with more advanced AI models — misuse and loss of control. Harris calls this humanity’s “ultimate test.” Whether AI becomes our greatest tool or our last invention depends on choices being made right now.
If you haven’t read our previous three-part series on AI safety, it’s here. The conversation will make more sense with that context — though it stands on its own.
Much has happened since we recorded this in April. But the framework Harris offers for understanding the stakes hasn’t dated.
A big thank you to Pablo De Ritis, the co-founder and President of Faena Rose, and the entire team.
Looking ahead, our next series examines the American Dream. America’s 250th birthday is approaching, and a Wall Street Journal poll last year found that nearly 70 percent of Americans believe the American Dream no longer holds true — or never did. What’s broken, what’s driving it, and what a path forward looks like. That’s what we’re taking on next.
Previous series have examined China's rare earth dominance, the decline of local news, the end of amateurism in college sports, shrinking competition in Congress, social media and teen mental health, a world rearming as the global rules-based order weakens, and — most recently — America's national debt crisis. Each series is available for reading or listening (and I narrate them all) at solvingfor.io.
Show Notes
0:00 — Opening by Pablo De Ritis, President of Faena Rose
3:24 — Introduction of Tristan Harris by Matt Haggman
8:40 — Why AI dwarfs the power of all other technologies combined
12:15 — How AI operates: not programmed, grown
15:13 — Regulation of AI: “there is more regulation on making a sandwich in New York City than there is for building potentially world-ending artificial intelligence”
16:12 — The incentives: thinking about the possible, but not the probable
25:55 — The risks: can’t separate the promise from the peril
30:40 — Solutions
36:30 — Reasons for optimism
42:55 — Q&A
Solving For takes on one pressing problem at a time: what's broken, what's driving it, and what a path forward might look like. Learn more here.
